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Mineral, surface rights don’t rejoin automatically

A widely assumed interpretation of the Dormant Mineral Rights Act was clarified by the Ohio Supreme Court in September.

“A lot of people had thought under a former version of the statute that when their oil and gas rights and surface rights were separated they could be automatically re-joined under that statute’s conditions,” said Leah Curtis, Ohio Farm Bureau director of agricultural law. “The Supreme Court has said that is not true, and instead that former law created a legal cause of action to unify surface and mineral rights.”
Historically, some landowners have sold the surface of their land, but retained their mineral rights underneath. It has been made clear by the Supreme Court that those who wish to bring their surface and mineral rights back together will have to use legal means to do so, she said.

“They will have to go through a more elaborate procedure for that and will more than likely need to retain legal counsel,” Curtis said.

Ohio Farm Bureau can help members through the process. Landowners wishing to take steps to bring their surface and mineral rights back into legal alignment are encouraged to contact Curtis at [email protected] or Dale Arnold, OFBF’s director of energy, utility and local government policy at [email protected] to help point them in the right direction and find someone to help through the legal process.

Ohio Farm Bureau Federation is a member of American Farm Bureau Federation®, a national organization of farmers and ranchers including Farm Bureau® organizations in 49 other states and Puerto Rico, and is responsible for Farm Bureau membership and programs within the State of Ohio. Ohio Farm Bureau Federation programs and services are available only to Farm Bureau members within Ohio. The political views expressed in these pages represent Ohio Farm Bureau Federation's positions on various issues as they relate to Ohio. The positions of the national Farm Bureau organization collectively are expressed through American Farm Bureau Federation. Any opinions, statements or views expressed through comments or by outside contributors are the express views of those individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.